Analyzing A Photograph From Another Time

The three things I tried to address when I analyzed this photograph were: what was the intention of the photographer? What visual elements did she use to show her intention? And what reaction her photograph illicited in me and how she ilicited it?

When I first looked at the picture I thought it was just a documentary photo. That it showed a time period objectively and did not give any bias as to the photographer's personal opinion. The closer I studied the picture however, the more I realized that their was a definite emotion that was trying to be captured by Dorothea Lange. The first thing that I always look at (at least consciously) is the faces of the people in the photograph. The white plantation overseer has an expression that is hard to define. It is a face that is not smug, or confident, but rather one that shows a person who has had power their whole life and likes to enforce, maybe cruelly. It is a look of power and his whole posture and demeanor enforces this claim to power. He is leaning against the car, his leg propped against it, like a conqueror stepping on a new frontier, or Archangel Michael stepping on Satan (a memorable picture from my childhood). This man is the subject of the picture and every object and field hand points to him and reaffirms his positition of power. This seems to be the photographer's intent and I'll try to prove why.

First off, he is seemingly surrounded in a glow of light. The light comes from the top right corner and wraps around him and the car before retreating back to the right middle. To look at the black field hands in the background you have to pull yourself from the light and examine the background a little deeper. The only dark spot inside the circle of light, is a small dot that I missed at first when I glanced at the photo. It is a man's head who seems to be in the background, leaning against the building. What is important here is the size of his body and head compared to the overseer. The overseer seems like a giant compared to this head and towers over it, looking down on it, but also looking away, signifying that this man doesn't really matter.

The geometry and use of shapes in this picture is also really cool the more you look at. Everything is pulling down and to the right, where the man is standing. The building lines run downwards and the patio runs downward and to the field hands. From the field hands you can follow their legs and body posture in a series of right angles and stairways to reach the overseer. The man closest to the overseer is the visual guide that jumps you to the boss's face and then runs down, going from his face to his arm then his extended knee and looping back to the circular lines of the car and dissapearing back to the right. All in all, this is a complete photograph that really lets ur eyes explore around the picture and captures many different elements involved in the scene.

The response this photo illicited in me was a slight bit of anger towards this man at his assurance, and claim to the scene. He is obviously in charge and knows it. It captures the mentality of the workers, not talking to each other, or emoting, but being led like cattle or property to whatever comes next. This picture symbolizes the power of the white and oppression of the black.